"There are four individuals," VenDell said, "who, to our knowledge, have held the power of Ascension. Rashek, the Survivor, the Ascendant Warrior, and Lord Harmony Himself.
[Brandon], I noticed the list doesn't include 'Terr'. Anything interesting about how modern kandra see Terr/Leras?
Good catch. There are things to be inferred from this.
Are there any black people in Scadrial? Or any other races? I couldn't find an answer online, but the descriptions in the book all seem like white/European people.
The Terris had a lot more skin color diversity than the people of the central dominance. A large number of those preserved had darker skin, so in the W&W era, you are starting to see skin color become associated with them. During the Final Empire, skin color was basically ignored.
Note that for even people in the Elendel Basin, darker skin won't get nearly as dark as what you will find on Roshar or Taldain.
EDIT: Now that I'm on my computer instead of my tablet, I can dig into this a little more. What other posters have been saying is true--the region of the Final Empire we see in the first trilogy is very small, and the Final Empire itself isn't terribly big. There's not a lot of racial diversity at all.
That said, the Terris are a distinct ethnic group. I carefully didn't describe people in the original books with regard to a lot of racially identifying features. One of the Lord Ruler's goals over the years was to stamp these things out, to create a single unified people. While he couldn't change genetics, his work here did make people start to look at things like class and clothing more than accents or racial identifiers. In addition, it was important that the Terris be diverse enough that, while some looked Terris from just a glance, with others, you could meet them and (for obvious reasons that are spoilers) not know they were actually Terris.
That isn't to say they aren't there--they actually are. Elend and Straff would have a bit of an accent, and Cett a fairly strong one. Sazed would look racially distinct from Vin.
As we get further from the Final Empire, we see these things becoming more of a marker. The Terris work to preserve their cultural heritage, and this distinctiveness highlights other aspects about them, including the dark skin that many of them brought through the end of the world. The next trilogy (1980's era) is planned to star a Terriswoman right now, and she would likely resemble someone ethnically black to many of us on Earth.
How far off your impression of Sazed was I in imagining him looking like Teferi from MTG?
I often give him a Teferi-like-look in my own head, but in actuality his skin tone is probably more akin to someone like Keegan-Michael Key.
>While he couldn't change genetics, his work here did make people start to look at things like class and clothing more than accents or racial identifiers.
How did the 'skaa/noble' class genetic tinkering work out, anyway? Did the leadership of every nation just wake up the next morning and find themselves taller, more intelligent, and less fertile?
Most genetic differences between skaa and noble were exaggerated, even fabricated, by noble culture as justification for their perceived superiority. Height differences due to nutrition, 'intelligence' due to education and societal expectations, fertility due to common factors in urbanization. The LR did try some minor tinkering, to be played out over time through genetics, but in the end these changes weren't very successful.
This is actually good to know. I've seen your other responses to similar questions, where the inference was that there was indeed a significant difference.
The main changes were for dealing with the atmosphere, correct? And they were reverted by Sazed/Harmony?
There were also some general hardiness changes for the skaa and some fertility changes, but as I said, by the time of the books those were basically gone. And yes, Sazed reverted the ones designed to help survival in the ash.
Loved Way of Kings; can you say where Shardblades go when not summoned or is it a RAFO?
It is RAFO, but one that will be answered for sure.
Is Endowment's holder female?
RAFO :)
Which author would you like to meet and get a book signed by him/her?
Alive? Terry Practhett. Dead? Robert Jordan.
Who would win in a game of chance: Mat, a chromium compounder, or Hoid?
In these kinds of questions, more and more I give "points" to the character with the most established narrative, set of powers, and momentum. So Mat wins hands down. In twenty years, maybe not. But right now Mat.
I always wondered what would happen if someone burning atium fought a ta'veren like Matrim Cauthon. Would it look like he was burning atium as well? Would his atium shadow be concealed by a haze of probability?
I'd say that Mat's aura would interfere with atium, but you could easily rule the other way--you could say atium works something like Min's visions of the future, letting one "read the Pattern" so to speak. And Min's visions do work on ta'veren.
Given the Mistborn table top game, would you be up for a Stormlight (or even just cosmere in general) table top game? When more of the stuff is out of course.
Yes, there will be. Almost certainly.
By the way, if "Awakeners" were something different back then, what did you call Vasher? Or was he just "some guy from another world, I'll explain his magic later".
The latter. There are hints he has a mysterious past, but not much more.
By the way, the chapters from Way of Kings Prime were pretty interesting when I read them in the [Altered Perceptions] anthology. I assume the rest of the book at the moment is still pretty spoilery... about where in The Stormlight Archive series would you consider it 'caught up' enough to do something with the rest of WoK'?
Unfortunately, one of the ways I made the series work was by splitting the character into two groupings, and doing half in the first five and half in the second. This means that WoK Prime doesn't spoil anything for Dalinar/Kaladin/Shallan. But it has huge spoilers for books six and seven, with Jasnah and Taln. So it will be a while.
How "bad" are your first drafts? Many authors say their first draft of a novel is always terrible.
They're pretty bad. In a first draft, I focus on character arcs and laying down dialogue.
So the descriptions are sparse, and often they're overly wordy to a huge fault. Drafts streamline.
What exactly is a dueling cane anyhow?
Depends. Some are flexible, like sparring swords, and are used for duels where blood is not needed.
Others are basically a big length of wood for hitting people, like a tonfa without the grip.
Do canes have a hilt like a sparring sword then? I always picture something like pic being used
Many have a hilt. However for most, there is no crossguard or the like.
And most don't taper like that one. They are often of a uniform diameter all the way down.
how is it that you've become so skilled? Lots of study and practice?
You've got it. Practice and study. I wrote 13 novels before publishing one (my sixth.) Practice, practice, practice.
Do you have plans to continue stories in the Elantris (hope I spelled that right) world?
Yes. I hope to write a sequel for the 10th anniversary of the book's release, which would be 2015.
*posting a thread in the "WhoWouldWin" subreddit titled "Randland vs Scadrial"*
Round 1: Zen Rand (after revelation, before last battle) vs Mist Vin (Feeding on infinite metal sources) - Both at their top tiers, they should, by my estimation, be matched because of the rays of power vs seeing the future.
Round 2: The armies of Randland vs The armies of Scadrial - Aes Sedai, Asha'man, dragons/cannons, vs koloss, mistings, mistborns.
Bonus round: The Lord Ruler and his armies have to take on the Dark One, and his armies. How well do they fare?
Other rounds would be cool if you come up with more.
EDIT: Since people seem to think that RandLand would stomp, how would Vin and crew, with/without the Lord Ruler, fare if they had full knowledge of Rand's abilities and 6 months to prepare?
I think that while Vin in the state you mention might be able to give a good fight to Rand, overall, Randland winds. Channelers are more powerful and versatile than most metalborn. Randland has far better generals; everyone on Scadrial is basically still winging it. I hand this one to Randland, unless Kelsier can pull off some improbable assassinations before the whole thing begins.
Would the time reversing properties of balefire remove the ability [of atium] to see the future?
Boy, this one is a tough call. Mixing cosmologies is tough. If we're IN Randland, then atium would work by reading the pattern--but in the cosmere, it looks into the Spiritual Realm--where all times, locations, and possibilities conflate. Either way, I'd say Balefire could counteract atium--but it would be tricky to use correctly, as you'd basically have to balefire some object that the atium burner was factoring into their plans very soon, tripping them up and catching them unable to adjust to the new futures quickly enough.
Not too long ago you told us atium works in the Cognitive - to quote you in reference to how stronger atium burns, "However, there's a certain breaking point where you kind of crack the whole system, peer straight into the cognitive realm, and kind of have a "It's full of stars" moment."
Are the two replies still compatible?
I meant Spiritual there. Sorry. I deal with the cognitive so much in the books, and Spiritual so infrequently, I often have a silver/tin moment when my fingers just type the thing I'm used to typing.
I thought the spheres of different denominations were also different sizes.
Someone mentioned this, too. Now with a second person it seems to make even more sense. Was it mentioned in the books?
Garnet and ruby are still right next to each other in value, but with all the other differences... it's probably just enough information to differentiate them.
Thanks!
Huh. I'd always assumed that the glass portion of a sphere was the same size for each gem type, but I can't find solid proof one way or another in the books. It's clear that within a gem type the glass size is constant while gem size grows from chip to mark to broam, but otherwise? I'd have to do a careful reread to try and find any evidence one way or another, and it might not be there at all.
This seems like the kind of question [Brandon Sanderson] or [Ben McSweeney] can give a definitive answer to: would a diamond chip's glass be the same size as an emerald broam's?
[Peter Ahlstrom] ought to know for sure.
I want to say they're all the same size sphere, with larger or smaller gems? But now I'm blanking on what that sphere size is... like, about the size of a marble? Half-inch or so in diameter?
The spheres are all the same size, about as big around as a man's thumbnail. Only the gems inside the spheres differ in size.
Another question, do you think you'll eventually publish a "The World of Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere"?
Probably. Though first, we'd probably do [The Way of Kings] and Mistborn worldbooks.
I'm not terribly fond of puns in fantasy unless the author expects us to believe that the characters are either speaking English or that the language that they are speaking has exactly the same puns.
It's neither one. Generally, the authors you're reading are pretending their books are in translation--and are generally providing an appropriate English pun to convey the tone of the scene. It happens in the real world, too. My books are all in English originally. When my translator for the Taiwanese editions, for example, runs across a pun, she often constructs a pun that works in the context in her language. The actual words are different, but the idea of "This character is making a wordplay quip" remains.
Thanks for the reply. One of my favourite things about this subreddit is the interaction with authors.How do you extend this to foreign languages within the world, then? For example, Tolkien's various languages, or the Old Tongue in Wheel of Time. Do we assume that the imaginary translator decided not to translate those phrases? If so, why?Made-up example:
"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," Tom muttered under his breath.
As, perhaps, opposed to:
"This is a truly stupendous event," Tom muttered under his breath, in Poppinish.
The idea is that the imaginary translator (who is basically the author) is trying to preserve the proper tone. Any time one of those phrases is written, the author COULD have just written the translated version. Why didn't they? There are a ton of reasons, but the most likely is to preserve the feeling the characters have in interacting with something they don't understand. This extends to which words we choose to translate even from the world. In Stormlight, I use the word 'havah' for a Vorin dress. Yet I call a coat simply a coat. There's a balance between not overloading the reader and providing setting immersion, and also a distinction between an article of clothing that is meaningful culturally and one that is less so. Being able to make these kinds of decisions is like adding a pinch of exotic spice to your broth, making it a unique and savory experience, and is part of what I love about fantasy over other genres.
do you decide what cosmere hints you'll let out before going to events? Or just decide on the fly?
A little of both. Usually, they pry more out of me than I'm planning, though.
Did you ever study a martial art yourself? Did studying a foreign language change the way you write?
My only martial arts study comes from reading and watching, with the occasional 'one shot' go learn some basics.
Studying a foreign language was extremely helpful in opening my eyes to other cultures, and my own language.
This is an interesting topic, and though I saw this early, I wanted to wait to post anything because I prefer to let discussions like this happen without author intervention, at least not immediately.
I do I like talking about topics like this, though. Humor is such a curiously subjective thing. There are people who just don't get Pratchett, whom I find the funniest thing ever. Conversely, I don't generally like stand up comedians, and actively dislike some of the comedies that people on reddit love. There are people who tell me that my Mat scenes in WoT are the funniest they've read in the series; there are others who consider them absolute duds.
Humor is more subjective than what we find heroic, tragic, or even beautiful. It also depends a great deal on audience buy-in and mood. This makes comedy one of the trickiest things to do in a book, because some people are just going to hate what you do. My approach has generally been a kind of shotgun blast--I try to include multiple different kinds of humor, stylized to the individual character. That way, if you don't find the humor itself funny, you at least learn what the character finds funny--and learn something about them.
In Stormlight, my personal favorite is the bridge crew humor, as it is distinctly character driven. Syl's humor is a different flavor, based on innocence mixed with sarcasm. Wit is another style entirely, though I usually only let him really go when he meets someone he dislikes strongly. I have to be careful, as he's one of the few characters I allow to stray into the vulgar, and letting him go too far risks letting such things overshadow the rest of the book.
Shallan's humor is based upon regency "women sit in a circle and trade witty comments" humor, of which Jane Austen was a master. Much of what the OP said in his post is correct--Shallan's fault is that she over-extends. She uses the humor as a coping mechanism, and to her, it doesn't matter if it's actually funny so long as she's stretching toward something more lighthearted than her terrible past. She tries very hard to prove herself. And she fails. Often.
However, her type of "wit" is to exemplify what Vorin lighteyed women consider to be amusing or diverting. And there are people who genuinely find that kind of thing to be a blast--though Shallan isn't exactly the best at it yet. (She's not terrible either, mind you. If you don't smile at some of the things she says, it's likely this isn't your type of humor, which is just fine. Hopefully, there will be other things in the books that make you smile.)
Though, that said, I'd love to read passages from other fantasy novels that people on reddit find to be actually laugh-out-loud funny. I know which ones I personally like, but it would be useful for me to see what you're liking. Feel free to PM them to me or to post them here.
During Adolin's exploration of Urithiru (right before he murders Sadeas) he comes across a painting
A fanciful picture with animals from mythology. He recognized a few from children's stories, like the enormous mink like creature with the mane of hair that burst out around and behind its head. What was it called again?
Let's answer Adolin's question. Is that a lion. Does this mean that normal animals once inhabited Roshar but became extinct or were forced to adapt after the arrival of Odium or the Highstorms. Or maybe these were artist illustrations from stories brought over to Roshar by worldhoppers? What do you think?
With shardpools being a thing and worldhoppers like Hoid being a thing as well it's entirely possible that people brought stories of the fauna of their world with them when they came to Roshar. After all, we know (via Word of Brandon) that the Horneater lakes are shardpools so they could have knowledge of lions via travelers, seeing them in the pools or some other way (worldsingers?)
Edit-- just noticed you mentioned worldhoppers. I think that's what it is, but it could also be stories from the original inhabitants if (big if) the original inhabitants came from elsewhere in the Cosmere.
Edit again -- They might have gone extinct after the arrival of Odium. If the rest of the world was akin to Shinovar prior to Odium then it's entirely possible for their to have been lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!).
Unless someone asks (or has asked) Brandon then I have no clue.
[Brandon]can you aid us in our questions?
No, it seems like you're asking the right ones.
Can you aid us in getting answers?
I've done so already, by providing two in-depth discussions of the nature of Roshar. They're called The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance.
Have you currently got a series planned for after the Wax and Wayne books? I really enjoyed the first book, although I do miss the full-on Mistborn / Feruchemists.
The next series I'm planning is what was originally going to be the second Mistborn trilogy (right now I'm just calling it Era Three.) It is a 1980s era spy thriller urban fantasy, and I think it will be awesome.
I have a question that I assume is going to be RAFO, but ... 1980s era spy thriller implies something like a Cold War to me. Does this mean United States: Elendelians :: Russia : Southern Peoples?
(I'm not sure what the proper demonyms would be.)
That's a pretty big RAFO.
What was one of the first novels you read as a child?
First real fantasy novel was Dragonsbane. As a young child, I really liked the 3 Investigators books.
You mentioned friday night in #Seattle Allomacy has "FTL" built into it, any more hints you can share on how that would work
It involves where the lost energy from thermodynamic issues goes in certain Allomantic interactions.
Is the recipient of the letter in Way of Kings also in Dragonsteel?
Yes. (Good question.)
If so would it be the person that Topaz gets mad at?
RAFO on the second one. I've already given you too much!
Are you Kaladin? Which character do you most identify as?
I'm not Kaladin, and I'm certainly not Hoid. I'm probably closest in personality to Sazed or old Dalinar, but not really a match for either. Really, every character has some of me in them, but none are me.
What's your favorite book of all time?
Probably Les Miserables. Hope I spelled that right . . .
Do you have a trick for plowing through writer's block?
Yes. I just write anyway, telling myself I don't have to use what I write. I write it poorly, then try again.
For me, that gets my brain working. You can't be afraid to 'throw away' what you've done for a day and try again.
With that in mind, you can have the most random of things happen, knowing you won't keep them. Just to get jump-started.
Do you read ebooks or are you a purist (Have to have the physical book)?
I prefer to read physical when I am at home, and ebook when I'm on the road. (Like now.)
What is your favorite book you've written?
Favorite is hard to pin down. I'm most proud of either The Gathering Storm or The Way of Kings, as they were among the hardest and most satisfying.
Was Bloody Tan an atium misting
No, he was not. Good question.
Your side characters often have physical infirmities. Can you explain why?
I feel that often, fiction tends to gloss over or ignore people like Clubs. So I find myself sticking them in.
Any suggestions for finding time to write for a full time dad with a full time non-writing job?
It depends on whether or not your day job is creatively draining. If it is writing/programming, etc (more)
You'll have a much harder time, as those jobs flex the same muscles as novel writing.
The people I've known who do it tend to get up an hour early, before their brain is worn out, and write then.
Basically, you'll have to give something up. Television, video games, golf, something. (But not family time.)
What are keys to balance family, writing career?
Good question. I had to make certain hours of the day "off limits" for writing, so that I didn't feel I was missing out on writing time. I could ALWAYS be working, but that's not good emotionally or for the family.
Otherwise, I try to make my writing time as effective as possible, so I don't feel that sense of "I didn't get anything done."
That one makes me unbalanced, as I feel anxious if I haven't gotten some good work done in a day.
I messaged earlier regarding Alloy of Law appendix narrator, unaware of today's torchat. maybe you can respond in the chat?
I haven't been telling people the name of the appendix author. It is either Hoid or one of the 17th sharders.
What is the thing with Adolin's serial dating? Is it just...?
He is bad with relationships, and that's just it. He's a little bit scared of being good at relationships, and so there's some kind of unconscious sabotaging going on. But yeah, he's young and he's bad at relationships.
I can write dialogue, I can write a couple of other things, but I suck at worldbuilding. And that's something I've watched you do online, I love it, it's great, but I cannot describe it. And any time I start I get two to three pages into it and then I just can't do it.
Practice. Number one, keep practicing. Less is more. If you can build great dialogue and great characters, you can pick a couple of cool things, just a few, and make everything else like-- try to [write dialogue] anyway. Pick an Earth culture. Changed it a little bit. You would much rather be good at character dialogue than worldbuilding, I can tell you that right now. A great character in a generic world is still a great story. But a weak character in a great world is a weak story. So, don't stress this one too much, it'll get better as you go along. But just try picking one thing that is cool for you, that's different, and make that swap, and try writing a story. Don't stress this one too much.
When Wax changes his weight, is that weight or mass?
He is actually changing his mass, in a weird...It's kind of halfway in between, is really what it is. But it follows the laws of conservation of momentum, so it's not just weight. It's timidly a half step inbetween.
So in The Stormlight Archive, they have the two Surges, and they have a third power effect, right?
They have kind of effects on each other, like a reverberation. Yes. I wouldn’t call it expressly a third power, I’d call it interactions.
So, it seems like...you don’t have to confirm anything, but it seems like Kaladin is able to transfer his powers to his men following him…
The Windrunners are known for having lots of squires.
That's the one I thought was really compelling. And the Skybreakers seem like they’re really good at hunting people down.
I’m not going to answer any of those! But good questions!
I would like to know how do you make cultures so vibrant?
So, dig deep rather than go wide. One or two cultures that play off of each other in an interesting way, where you've considered a lot of the ramifications, are gonna to be better than trying to create thirty different cultures. Try to keep focused on what's going to be important to the characters and the books, and try to spend your worldbuilding there. So like if the characters are going to have conflict over religion, spend time on religion. But if instead they're going to have different linguistics and that's a source of conflict to them, spend time on the linguistics.
What does a mistcloak [mistcoat] look like? What does Wax's miscloak look like?
Okay, so Wax's is a mistcoat. It's a duster that has been shredded into strips. But remember, there’s not like an industry that makes these. Each person commissions their own, and so they all vary quite widely.
Are they at the waist, or…?
It’s a little above the waist.
In world, would an in-world reader of Jasnah’s book, would an in world person consider that she is also advocating for gender equality for men?
In-world? Jasnah would, but I don’t think most people who read it would.
What was your inspiration for Wit, or who?
Hmm. You know, the closest thing I've been able to say is the court jester from King Lear, he's one of my favorite literary characters. But I'm not sure if I can, you know, if I can point to anyone specific other than that.
Do we get to find out, what happens, where Calamity comes from?
Yes. Eventually, like the next trilogy I do will dig into that... You've gotta remember, in the teen books I’m not going to dig into lore as much, they're written as action novels. So in the next series I'll get you some of your answers, but that's not what the point of these books-- like The Stormlight Archive, the point is the lore. In these books, the point is “have fun”. So. So you will, but it's going to take a little bit longer.
As you were constructing the Allomantic powers revealed in the Wax and Wayne books, I was just curious why you chose cadmium and chromium to be metals.
Well I picked them way back when I first designed the magic system, and I wanted metals that were easily recognizable but which wouldn't be commonly available in a medieval society, so that as society progressed it would make sense that they would have access to these new metals, if that makes sense. Aluminum was a little in that as well, but I like aluminum because they had it anciently, but very rarely. So it could be a more mythical metal.
If Hoid was on Scadrial during the original Mistborn trilogy, and had a bead of lerasium, and took it and gained Allomantic powers, could he then go to Roshar during Stormlight and still have those Allomantic powers?
Yes… Most of the magics are not re-- area centric, though a few of them are.
The flakes of metal are catalysts to access the powers of Preservation. What do the birds from Patji use as catalysts?
You don't always have to have the exact same thing for catalyst, for that it’s kind of more of an innate Connection, in the same way that the metals have an innate Connection. They are the catalyst, if that makes sense.
How confused should I still be about Investiture?
Pretty confused, it’s not-- I mean, I haven’t even dug into really what it is.
In Words of Radiance, a character named Iyatil... Is she a member of the race that we see in The Bands of Mourning in the--
She is related to them in the same way that I am Danish.
Okay, so not.
Well, I am, my heritage is Danish.
Okay, so a branch of...
Mmhmm.
